New Reports Show Cleaner Transit Manufactures Jobs
June 25, 2010 by Andrea Buffa · Leave a Comment
This week, two reports documented the job creation potential of increased U.S. investments in public transit. The Apollo Alliance has long promoted public transit as a key component of our clean energy agenda, because of its effectiveness in reducing transportation-related oil use and greenhouse gas emissions. Public transit is especially important this year, because the national transportation bill has expired and will need to be re-authorized in the near future. The transportation bill presents a unique opportunity to reexamine U.S. transportation policy with an eye toward the twin goals of cleaner transportation and good jobs.
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| Photo credit: American Solving Inc |
The first report, which was prepared by the Duke University Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness (CGGC) for the Apollo Alliance, focused exclusively on rail transit, which is expected to undergo considerable growth in the coming years, as Amtrak upgrades its railcars and adds high-speed trains, and as lawmakers consider a transportation bill that calls for significantly greater investments in public transit, including rail. It looked at the manufacture of U.S. rail vehicles and their component parts and found that the U.S. rail supply chain includes 247 manufacturing facilities in 35 states.
“Our research found that while there is already a healthy chain of U.S.-based manufacturing locations that produce components and systems for rail cars, the sector still has plenty of room to grow if the next federal transportation bill prioritizes public transit and rail investments,” said Marcy Lowe, a senior research analyst at the CGGC and the report’s lead author.
The states with the most manufacturing facilities—New York (32 rail manufacturing facilities), Pennsylvania (26), Illinois (23), California (22) and Ohio (13)—would reap major benefits from such a bill. “These states have a real chance to be at the center of America’s 21st century rail manufacturing industry,” said Phil Angelides, chairman of the Apollo Alliance. “Our nation needs a new transportation policy that invests in expanded public transit and more energy-efficient transportation, including rail. Done right, these investments could mean a windfall of rail manufacturing jobs across the country.”
The full report is available at apolloalliance.org and at cggc.duke.edu.
The other public transit report that was released this week backed up the Duke study’s finding that increased public transit investments will create more U.S. manufacturing jobs. In a report called The Job Impact of Transportation Reauthorization, the Economic Policy Institute looked at the job creation potential of two different transportation bills funded at the level of $500 billion—one with the current mix of transportation investments and one that invests more heavily in repair and maintenance, public transportation and livable communities. EPI found that the public-transit friendly bill, which is based on a proposal that’s been put forward by Transportation for America, would yield 400,000 more jobs over the six-year life of the law, for a total of more than 7.2 million jobs. 761,000 of those jobs would be in manufacturing.
The analysis also found that the Transportation for America investment strategy would especially benefit those hardest hit by the recession, including low-wage workers and Americans without a college degree. Approximately 80 percent of the new jobs created would be filled by Americans without a four-year degree. The proposal also would create jobs at a higher level of unionization (15 percent) than the overall economy (12 percent).
“This study shows why America needs a new direction in our transportation policy,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “Cleaner and smarter transportation investments will create millions of good-paying, quality jobs and put our nation on a path to a lasting economic recovery.”
The full study is available at the EPI website.
Stay tuned for more information on the link between clean transportation and good jobs, which is the focus of Apollo’s ongoing Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan project.
One Year Ago, the House Passed Historic Clean Energy and Climate Legislation
On June 26, 2009—one year ago tomorrow—the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act, a bill that put a cap and price on carbon emissions, created a national renewable energy standard, upgraded U.S. energy-efficiency standards, and created a revolving loan fund to support clean energy manufacturing, among many other measures.
At the time, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass, a key sponsor of the legislation and chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, said, “Today the House has passed the most important energy and environment bill in our nation’s history. Scientists say that global warming is a dangerous man-made problem. Today we are saying clean energy will be the American-made solution. This legislation will create jobs by the millions, save money by the billions, and unleash investment in clean energy by the trillions.”
Three hundred and sixty-four days later, America has yet to reap the benefits of this bill’s passage. Why? Because the Senate hasn’t even begun debating a clean energy and climate bill. All signs point to a Senate debate this summer over some kind of an energy bill, but it is still unclear what will be included in the bill. Meanwhile, another year has slipped by.
That year has seen increasing evidence of climate change and the grave threat it poses to our planet. In a recent weekly update, we let you know about the State Department Fifth Climate Action Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. According to the report, “climate-related changes are already observed in the United States and its coastal waters. These include increases in heavy downpours, rising temperature and sea level, rapidly retreating glaciers, thawing permafrost, lengthening growing seasons, lengthening ice-free seasons in the ocean and on lakes and rivers, earlier snowmelt, and alterations in river flows. These changes are projected to grow.”
Just this week, another report on climate change found that—despite what climate change deniers would have us believe—97 percent of the world’s most widely published climate scientists accept the evidence for global warming and agree that it is caused by human activities.
This year has also seen the U.S. falling behind in the global clean energy race, with our failure to adopt national clean energy policies costing us jobs. GE is expanding its wind manufacturing, engineering and service facilities—not in the U.S., but in Europe. BP Solar shut down a solar manufacturing facility that employed hundreds of workers in Maryland and moved the plant to China. Examples like this abound.
A Pew Charitable Trusts report published in March explained that a country’s climate and energy policy decisions directly impact its competitive position in the global clean energy economy. According to the report, “Those nations—such as China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain—with strong, national policies aimed at reducing global warming pollution and incentivizing the use of renewable energy are establishing stronger competitive positions in the clean energy economy.”
Who’s winning the clean energy race? Well, last year China invested $34.6 billion in the clean energy economy—nearly double what the U.S. invested. And over the last five years, the U.S. also trailed Turkey, Brazil, China, the U.K. and Italy in the rate of clean-energy investment growth.
The passage of ACES one year ago was indeed an extraordinary victory. But now we need to make sure the Senate does its part, for the good of our environment and our economy.
In Other News …
*Read our latest clean energy success story. Algaeventure Systems of Ohio is on the verge of a scientific breakthrough that would revolutionize renewable energy production. The company has developed a technology to extract algae from water at a cost that is 99 percent less than it was using previous technologies, which means algae could become a viable commercial biofuel. Learn more by reading Unleashing Algae Energy: Algaeventure Systems a Model of Innovation in Ohio.
*Join the Apollo Team! Apollo is seeking two new staff members to help us achieve our clean energy, good jobs mission. We are looking for an entrepreneurial, energetic and experienced public relations professional to serve as our national Communications Director. We are also seeking a skilled, experienced, organized and energetic person with strong research and writing skills to work as our Senior Policy Associate. Check out the job listings for more information.
On Kansas High Plains, There’s No Place Like A Clean Energy Home
July 2, 2009 by Keith Schneider · Leave a Comment
GREENSBURG, Kansas - The worst thing that ever happened to the more than 1,400 residents of this southwest Kansas farm town was the tornado that 26 months ago turned nearly every house and commercial building into scattered piles of splintered wood and broken bricks.
The best thing that ever happened to the 900 residents who remained has been a reconstruction effort based on a $100-million clean energy economic development strategy. Greensburg’s clean energy development plan has attracted the attention of two presidents, generated some of the most energy efficient homes and public buildings in the United States, and turned Greensburg into, arguably, the greenest small town in America. Read more
Recology Pursues Zero-Waste in Bay Area
June 27, 2009 by Jacob Wheeler · 1 Comment
San Francisco-based Recology is the national leader in helping American cities draw ever closer to becoming zero-waste communities. With the company’s guidance, San Francisco has achieved a recycling rate of 72 percent, the highest in the nation.
Clean Energy Sector Seeks Foothold in Struggling New Bedford
June 12, 2009 by Derek Fletcher · 1 Comment
“The town itself is perhaps the dearest place to live in all New England. It is a land of oil, true enough, but…also of corn and wine.”
With the publication in 1851 of Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick, these words - depicting the bustling streets and thriving industry of New Bedford, MA - were emblazoned in eternity. As the center of America’s booming whaling industry, mid-19th century New Bedford boasted many notable residents, including Melville and famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Read more
Apollo President’s Tireless Pursuit of New Energy Economy
March 26, 2009 by Keith Schneider · 1 Comment
Like other nationally prominent public interest leaders, Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo spent a few days after Barack Obama’s election considering its full meaning. It wasn’t just that the new president was African American like himself. It was also that President Obama had campaigned and won on almost precisely the same call for a clean energy, good jobs economic transition that Ringo has championed for the Apollo Alliance from one end of America to the other.
Talk About a Window of Opportunity
March 21, 2009 by Keith Schneider · 1 Comment
In December 2008, when 260 members of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 1110 lost their jobs at Republic Windows and Doors, workers mounted a quiet but exceptionally effective resistance. Scores of them, working in shifts, calmly occupied the Chicago-based manufacturer for six days, asserting that they had the right under law to receive vacation and severance benefits.
Apollo Weekly Update, 3/6/09: Next is Energy and Climate Bill, Make It In America, Good Green Jobs
March 6, 2009 by Keith Schneider · Leave a Comment
We’re at day 46 of the first 100 days of the new administration. That roar coming out of Washington is the sound of a legislative freight train, fueled by the promise of a clean energy economy, and driven by a young and determined president.
Next: Stimulus Is Just The Start, Galbraith Argues, To Federal Leadership in Clean Energy Development
February 25, 2009 by Keith Schneider · 2 Comments
In mid-January, as the House of Representatives and the incoming Obama administration readied the nearly $800 billion economic stimulus bill, James K. Galbraith joined a 10-member delegation from the Apollo Alliance in Washington to make the case for a big investment in clean energy and green-collar jobs. Read more
February 24, 2009 by Elena Foshay · 3 Comments
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The Apollo Alliance has amassed a useful repository of information on implementing the clean energy, good jobs provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Check back frequently for updates. Apollo Weekly Update, 2/6/09: Senate Approves Stimulus, Jerome and ObamaFebruary 7, 2009 by Keith Schneider · 1 Comment
Like the other guests, Jerome was personally greeted by President Barack Obama. Jerome says that when he extended his hand and said, “Mr. President, I’m Jerome Ringo,” he was interrupted. “I know who you are,” said President Obama. “You’re president of the Apollo Alliance. You guys are doing great work. Keep up the great work.” 
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